INQUIRY: HOW KNOWLEDGE IS CREATED Sharon Friesen Galileo Educational Network

Agenda  Your Experience  A Closer Look At Inquiry  Assessing An Inquiry Study  Designing for Inquiry  Tasks, Activities, Lessons  Assessment

Starting With You  What is your experience with inquiry?  What have you tried?

Inquiry in Two Parts Professionalism: Teaching is a practice that we practice upon Teachers inquire into their own practice. They critique, question, interrogate and improve their own practice through Action Research. In the classroom Teachers design inquiry-focused studies and learning environments.

History of Inquiry  Socrates believed that knowledge was vital and could only survive in a dynamic environment of human inquiry.  The legacy of Socrates would be continued by Plato who set up the Academy in 387 B.C. in order to continue the Socratic method of inquiry.

 “ By doubt we are led to inquiry and from inquiry we perceive the truth. ” - Pierre Abelard “ All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them. ” Galileo

 "Knowledge," in the sense of information, means the working capital, the indispensable resources, of [for] further inquiry; of finding out, or learning, more things. Frequently it is treated as an end in itself, and then the goal becomes to heap it up and display it when called for. - Dewey

Defining Inquiry Inquiry is the investigation into an idea, question, problem or issue. It involves gathering information, building knowledge and developing deep understanding. Inquiry-based learning encompasses the processes of posing problems, gathering information, thinking creatively about possibilities, making decisions and justifying conclusions.

Myths About Inquiry  The teacher must never tell the students what they know.  Inquiry-based teaching absolves the teacher of any responsibility to act on students’ incorrect conceptions.

Myths  In inquiry-based teaching, the teacher is only the facilitator.  In inquiry-based teaching the teacher does not need to know anything about the subject matter, as it is the students who lead the inquiry.

Myths  In inquiry-based learning the students must learn everything by themselves  Inquiry-based learning means uncontrolled exploration

Myths  In inquiry-based learning all student answers and responses are equally valid  In inquiry-based learning students must do all learning cooperatively in groups.

Myths  Inquiry-based learning means lower standards.  Inquiry-based learning de-emphasizes the ‘basics.’

Key Features of Inquiry  Creating Knowledge  using or manipulating knowledge as in analysis, interpretation, synthesis, and evaluation, rather than only reproducing knowledge in previously stated forms. It involves idea improvement and ongoing feedback.  Disciplined Inquiry  gaining in-depth understanding of limited topics, rather than superficial acquaintance with many, and using elaborated forms of communication to learn and to express one's conclusions.  Value Beyond School  the production of discourse, products, and performances that have personal, aesthetic, or social significance beyond demonstration of success to a teacher.

Examples of Inquiry Choose an example, either one I have suggested or one of your own.

Designing For Inquiry

Inquiry begins with the desire to understand. a question an issue a problem an idea a puzzlement a wondering “All men by nature desire to know.” - Aristotle

Beginning: What Matters?  Inquiry needs a topic  It begins with a meaningful (real) question, problem or issue.  This question, problem or issue can be initiated by the teacher or by students.  It requires a strong mapping to the appropriate curricula

Designing Tasks and Assessment  “ The tasks that are assigned to students are one of the few variables under the control of educators that directly affect student engagement. ” Phillip C. Schlechty

Creating Engaging Tasks

Inside The Inquiry Classroom

New Habits of Mind  Questions of evidence  How do we know what we know?  Questions of viewpoint  Who's speaking?  The search for connections and patterns  This might involve asking, 'What causes what?' or it might cause students to say, ‘How is one thing related to another?  Supposition, or 'How might things have been different?'  Who cares?

Assessment In The Inquiry Classroom  Using Track Changes  Peer Feedback in the secondary classroom  Peer feedback in the elementary classroom - video

Using Track Changes

Peer Assessment

 Co-constructing criteria  Peer assessment

Hard Fun “If I could go through this experience again, I would. I loved the challenge. The cool thing was that sometimes no one knew the answer so we had to fight hard together to get one. Then when we got the answer it was our own, and we had discovered it. So why not go through the experience when you love what you do and feel like it is your very own?” (Student)